We had a pre booked appointment at The Travel Clinic this morning, to discuss what medication and vaccines we require for our up coming trip.

I came away with 3 puncture wounds, a repeat booking for another 3 next Monday, and 2 more a fortnight later! Jacs got away a bit lighter.

We also discussed Malaria prevention, we estimate that we will be in Malaria affected areas on the west side of Africa (from Mauritania  to Namibia) for maybe 6 months, then out of Malaria risk (Namibia, South Africa, mostly) for 3-4 months (off the drugs for a bit), then East Africa (up to Kenya and back down)  and back up the west coast for maybe 6-7 months. So it looks like we need about 14 months worth of medication, this dictates to a certain extent which anti-malarial drug we take. Doxycycline is the recommended drug for this amount of time, with back up Malarone for treatment if required.

To summarise our vaccinations/medication is for: Malaria, Yellow Fever, Rabies, Cholera, Typhoid, Hepatitis A&B, Tetanus, and Polio  and maybe Meningitis.

Obviously the best protection against Malaria is not to get bitten! With this in mind sleeping under nets and covering up with long sleeves and trousers in the evening is a must in certain areas.

We also discussed making up a medi pack, with needles, venflons, etc (Jacs dept.).

Looking forward to a repeat next Monday!

V